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Executive Summary
The software-centric business model is quickly becoming pervasive in every industry, not just IT. As Jeff Gothelf, co-author of Lean UX, put it, "Software is eating the world."1 Since the publication of the Agile Manifesto in 2001, the project management (PM) climate has experienced a gradual shift away from the traditional 'waterfall' process and toward a more adaptive, Agile model. In the wake of this paradigm shift, many business managers and developers have begun searching both for knowledge of Agile and for practical Agile project management software tools – whether to better manage the software development lifecycle (SDLC) or other non-IT projects.
This buyer's guide will define the methodology of Agile PM as well as the product market and compare four leading Agile PM solutions.
The rapid emergence of Agile software startups and corresponding business adoption has made the trend clear: people like Agile. Developers like it. Product owners like it. Customers don't know it, but they like it, too, because they reap its benefits every day.
A 2013 study by VersionOne stated that 76 percent of developers are using, or plan to use agile project management software – a 9 percent increase from 2009.2
Agile actually isn't a project management structure per se, although it is often referred to as such. Agile is actually an overarching development philosophy that takes form in specific project management frameworks such as Scrum, Kanban, or Lean. It relies on cross-functional teams, adaptive planning rather than predictive, and progress made through short, repeatable iterations. Some key tenets of Agile development3 include:
- Satisfying customers through continuous, early delivery of software
- Harnessing change to improve software
- Frequent delivery (from two weeks to two months)
- Frequent collaboration of stakeholders and developers
- Regular self-assessment and adjustment of teams and software projects
Though the word 'software' is used frequently in these doctrines, Agile has long since breached the confines of development shops and is now commonly used in marketing, manufacturing, human resources, or wherever a business unit requires flexible organization to produce frequent versions of a product. A recent study by the Scrum Alliance revealed that 36 percent of organizations with active Scrum projects are using the Agile methodology outside of their IT departments.4
Agile development is made manifest in a variety of project management or development frameworks. The most popular of these are:
Scrum: self-organizing teams collaborate through daily face-to-face meetings and develop in time-boxed increments called 'sprints.'
Kanban: a change management and visualization method where progress is depicted with task cards on a public Kanban board
Lean: elimination of waste in development/manufacturing processes through even workloads and just-in-time delivery, so true value is made more apparent
Extreme programming: intended to improve quality of end products by developing in short cycles with frequent releases that constantly incorporate customer feedback and changing requirements
Most Agile management tools draw elements from more than one of these, which means the product market is broad and eclectic. This has led to increased use of Agile as an umbrella term encompassing all or most aspects of the four frameworks above. Agile advocates tout its ability to better manage changing priorities, improve visibility, reduce risk, speed up time-to-market, better align IT and business values, and simplify the development process.
Next, we'll show you four of the best agile project management software, provide examples of their use, and compare them on the basis of common features.
- Which Agile Project Management software is right for your business?
- Find out now
Four Agile PM Software Solutions
JIRA Agile – Atlassian - Average User Rating: 3.98/5
JIRA Agile is an add-on for JIRA created by PM giant Atlassian. JIRA Agile targets development teams looking to implement Agile methodology with a smaller learning curve. It's one of the most comprehensive Agile products currently on the market, with a full range of Agile features including Scrum, Kanban, burndown charts, sprints, velocity metrics, and more. The add-on's functionality consists of four key components which apply to the user's choice of either Scrum or Kanban-focused implementation: planning, estimating, prioritizing, executing, and evolving. Project managers and owners have access to detailed reports and analytics about the status of the product, such as the cumulative flow diagram, which shows the status and volume of project issues over time. Some might consider the fact that you'll first need a subscription to the basic Atlassian JIRA as a drawback. But the monthly price for both is user-based, scalable, and affordable for a product of this caliber. Not only that, using Atlassian JIRA + JIRA Agile means you'll have access to sophisticated features that basic Agile software does not offer, such as portfolio management, expense tracking, and a fully-stocked app marketplace. JIRA is available both as software-as-a-service (SaaS) or a traditional, on-premise installation.
Case Study: Puppet Labs5
Puppet Labs is a software company based in Portland, Oregon that focuses on IT automation and infrastructure. When they grew from a small start-up to a venture-backed company of 300 employees, they decided it was time to implement a better system for managing and connecting customer issues with development. They turned to Atlassian, implementing a stack of products including JIRA Agile, JIRA Service Desk, Confluence, and HipChat.
- Deployment took only six weeks, and Puppet Labs saw immediate results.
- Resolved tickets increased by 67 percent
- Puppet Labs increased user adoption to all 300 employees by staying in one system
- They streamlined maintenance processes and reduced total system cost
- Customers can now serve themselves and search for documents using the self-serve option
Axosoft - Average User Rating: 4/5
Axosoft is a Scrum-specific project management tool for product developers that provides access to an essential PM toolkit, as well as bug-tracking, help desk operations, and developer collaboration wikis. Axosoft has serviced over 11,000 teams, including some at noteworthy companies like Cisco, Boeing, and NASA. Their software can be purchased in modules or as a complete product suite, which is available in both on-premise and cloud-hosted versions, depending on your needs.
Axosoft takes developers through the process in three phases, aligned with the methodology of Scrum: backlog management, process definition and visualization, and product 'shipment.' Unlike some vendors that place a cap on projects per month, Axosoft lets you create and tackle unlimited projects, subprojects, stories, and epics with user-specific access.
The drag-and-drop interface lets you manage your backlog, sprints, user stories, and releases with ease, and includes helpful prioritization tools and work-in-progress indicators to keep your team running smoothly. Like many Agile vendors, Axosoft takes a mixed approach to the methodology, giving users Scrum and Kanban tools, including a fully interactive Card View mode. Axosoft only has a few pre-built integrations, but they do offer API access for further integration with third-party systems. The product suite's pricing is comparable to JIRA, however, if you only need one or two of the modules (e.g. Scrum and the free bug tracker), you could see considerable savings.
Case Study: Dapper Gentlemen6
Dapper Gentlemen is a development shop, based in Phoenix, Arizona, that has built award-winning apps such as Ugly Meter, which scans users faces and ranks their "ugliness" on a scale of 1-10. Dapper Gentlemen has, thus far, garnered over 30 million downloads of their apps. In the wake of this sudden success, the company started experiencing difficulties, such as frustrations with creating accurate estimates. Dapper Gentlemen soon discovered Axosoft's Agile PM solution and decided to give it a try. Since then, Co-Founder Jo Overline says:
- Time and cost bids have been dead-on
- They've been able to visualize their progress and gauge momentum via burndown charts
- The team uses foresight provided by Axosoft to operate much leaner projects than they had before
Planbox - Average User Rating: 4.17/5
Planbox was originally created in 2009 as an in-house solution for tech sponsorship company, Bolidea. Since then, the Agile project management tool has created its own brand, servicing start-ups and Fortune 500 companies like Starbucks, Phillips, Stanford University, and the University of Michigan.
Unlike our first two products, Planbox is only available in a cloud version, which the developers believe is the best way to provide constant access to updated versions, new features, etc. Planbox is geared toward a more general audience than some of its competitors; it's a good fit for marketing teams, IT, developers, and Agile novices and pros alike. The work hierarchy is broken down into four essential components: initiatives, projects, items, and tasks, with real-time updates, notifications, time tracking, velocity charts, storyboards, deadlines, and reporting to help you and your team manage it all.
One unique feature Planbox offers is a built-in customer feedback loop, which helps more closely align your decision-making process with customer values. While the system doesn't explicitly implement Agile tools like sprints or Kanban boards, it does embody the flexible, iterative framework of Agile project management.
Case Study: Neuralitic7
Neuralitic is a leading provider of mobile intelligence solutions based in Montreal, Canada. They help communication service providers (CSPs) in North America, Eurpoe, and Asia exploit the value of their subscribers' data. Before Planbox, they were using AtTask for their project management needs, but were having issues with team adoption, which lead to inefficiency, manual sharing, and information silos.
When they made the switch to Agile methods, a team member suggested Planbox, and "Bam! We all fell in love with it," says Neuralitic Scrum Master Marco Langford. "I've never seen an adoption as fast as this one. The whole adoption took 3 days." Neuralitic currently uses Planbox to manage its two-week development iterations and also for more general project management. Some of the key benefits they've experienced include:
- Improved communication and cross-team visibility
- Pervasive adoption
- Transparency into iteration status, progress, and bottlenecks
- Ability to use Planbox for multiple teams and departments across the company
Assembla - Average User Rating: 3.6/5
Assembla specializes in providing Agile, online project collaboration solutions for distributed teams, with an emphasis on task management and issue tracking. The company itself is still relatively young – founded in 2005 – but they've already achieved major success and carved out their place in the PM market, boasting over a million users in 100 different countries, and contracts with companies like Ebay, PayPal, Intuit, and HTC.
The product itself is all about driving continuous delivery with a robust, but intuitive set of Agile tools: Kanban, testing workflows, task management, sprint planning and execution, backlog management, burndown charts, bug tracking, and many others. Assembla's cloud platform and strong collaboration features allow teams to work together regardless of location, keeping everyone focused on the big picture. Another core feature is unlimited software configuration management (SCM) and deployment through Subversion, Git, or Perforce, for which most other vendors require a separate add-on.
In order to ensure faster development and less stress, CEO Andy Singleton has vowed that Assembla experiments with all software releases on their own team before making them available to the public. As a result, they've moved from releasing every two weeks to ten times per day.
Case Study: The Garrigan Lyman Group8
The Garrigan Lyman Group (GLG) is a Seattle-based digital marketing agency that develops custom apps, websites, ecommerce solutions, and social media widgets. Their services are geared toward helping clients achieve greater customer loyalty. In 2010, GLG was concerned about the loyalty of its own customer base in the wake of company expansion. They had visibility issues, tracking issues, and resource management issues. The team received client feature requests via email or through extranet, and clients had no visibility into the status of their requests.
It wasn't long before everyone at GLG had turned to Assembla. Now they use the ticketing feature to receive feature requests within the system, prioritize them, and keep clients informed.
Key Benefits:
- Clients can categorize requests and suggest priorities
- GLG teams can manage service level agreements (SLAs)
- Discussion threads and files kept up-to-date and available in one place
- Better tracking of task progress (development, QA, staging, DevOps)
- Save money by avoiding more expensive systems
Product Comparison
- Which Agile Project Management software is right for your business?
- Find out now
- Gothelf, Jeff. "Bring Agile to the Whole Organization." Harvard Business Review. Last modified November 14, 2014. https://hbr.org /2014/11/bring-agile-to-the-whole-organization
- "8th Annual State of Agile Survey." VersionOne. Accessed December 10, 2014. http://www.versionone. com/pdf/2013-state-of-agile-survey.pdf?utm_campaign=2014%20State%20of%20Agile%20Auto%20 Responder&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua
- "Manifesto for Agile Software Development." Agile Manifesto. Accessed December 9, 2014. http:// agilemanifesto.org /
- "The State of Scrum: Benchmarks and Guidelines." Scrum Alliance. Last modified June 2013. https://www. scrumalliance.org /scrum/media/ScrumAllianceMedia/Files%20and%20PDFs/State%20of%20Scrum/2013.State-of-Scrum-Report_062713_final.pdf
- "Resolving tickets 67% faster."Atlassian. Accessed December 11, 2014. https://www.atlassian.com/ company/customers/case-studies/puppetlabs
- Customers page. Axosoft. Accessed December 11, 2014. http://www.axosoft.com/customers
- "Neuralitic Planbox Case Study." Planbox. Accessed December 11, 2014. https://www.planbox.com/files/ Neuralitic_Planbox_Case_Study.pdf
- "Case Study: The Garrigan Lyman Group (GLG)." Assembla. Accessed December 11, 2014. http://cdn2. hubspot.net/hub/365/file-1079273429-pdf/docs/Assembla-GLG-Case-Study.pdf?t=1418240083506&utm_ source=hs_automation&utm_medium=email&utm_content=13277854&hsenc=p2ANqtz-_K2W50-QV mRjeEuy1ddZHQ5f0J3vothTglBtG5LhPseykTcXRm3jpm4i4tE7Nnp7bDYEIi1dpLOm-b7CiTK7jhmrsKzA& hsmi=13277854


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This is really annoying: When Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion is in full screen mode, you can still move your mouse outside of the window. So if you've got a monitor to the right of the game, it prevents you from moving to the right by moving your mouse to the right side. It'll just go into the second monitor and if you click, it'll minimize the game.
This is talked about in depth on the Stardock forum but there's no solution or consistent workaround found.

subset: commoncrawl


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Charlotte Wedding Photography and Family Portraiture
We are a team of professional wedding photographers solely devoted to "happily ever afters". Our commercial studio is based in Charlotte, NC and we capture weddings in the Carolinas and beyond. We believe in family, love and the power of storytelling through our photography. The ladies of Old South would love to capture your big day!
© 2020 Old South Studios|ProPhoto Photography Theme


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Current proposed and forecasted coal-fired capacity in the U.S., as projected by the Energy Information Administration's scenario in 2011.
In 2010, the U.S. Energy Information Administration projected that coal would drop to 44% of America's electrical generation by 2035. Actual generation dropped to that level in 2011.
This week, the agency again adjusted its long-term figures for coal in the U.S., projecting that generation will fall to 39% by 2035. But groups on the front lines of fighting coal plants say those figures are still far too conservative.
Due to a combination of cheap natural gas, higher coal prices, increasingly cost-competitive renewable energy, and an aggressive community of activists working to prevent the build of new coal plants, the coal sector is facing an unprecedented decline in generation. At least, that's what leaders of Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign are saying.
"The pipeline has essentially dried up," said Bruce Nilles, the senior director of the Beyond Coal campaign, to Climate Progress. "Our view is that the rush is almost over."
Here are some of the top indicators for coal's future that Sierra Club pointed to after this week's release of the EIA's figures:
- At least 33,000 megawatts worth of existing coal-fired power plants are expected to retire in the coming decades, not including any retirements due to the recently-finalized mercury and air toxics standard from the Environmental Protection Agency. For reference, an average-sized coal-burning power plant is approximately 500 megawatts.
- The biggest difference from last year's EIA projection is that more coal retirements will be driven by rising coal prices, state renewable energy standards and EPA clean air standards. All these signs point to reduced market share for coal and expanded market share for clean energy.
- No new coal plants are predicted to be constructed in the time period, beyond those few that are already under construction.
- The share of electricity production from clean energy sources (including hydropower and biomass) should increase from 10 to 16 percent during the time period.
- Overall electricity demand growth is expected to remain below one percent annually.
Certainly, the outlook for coal isn't good. But there's a common misconception that coal is completely dead.
A look at the pipeline for projects in the top chart shows that there are still a fair amount of projects underway. EIA projects the portfolio of plants in various stages of development will actually increase coal generation after 2015.
But the EIA reference case assumes no change to existing policy — meaning it doesn't factor in a price on carbon or any upcoming Environmental Protection Agency standards for power plant emissions. The combination of those two policies could dramatically change the prospects for coal.
"I'd say that coal is on the ropes," says Nilles. "Many of the plants you see in development are rural electric cooperatives and municipal projects — no merchant projects because of sticker shock. Our view is that the rush is basically over."
There's one other factor being ignored by current conservative analysis: the dramatic changes in cost of renewable energy versus the increase in cost for constructing coal plants. For example, In Mississippi, the $2.4 billion, 500-MW Kemper County coal plant is expected to raise rates by more than 45% — increasing the average monthly bill by roughly $60.
Compare that to the stunning drop in the price and installed cost of solar technologies. According to some estimates, the changing economics for coal plants — assuming a new one actually gets built — makes the resource less competitive than solar photovoltaics in many areas of the country over the next few years.
Charts from Adam Browning, Tom Dinwoodie and Dan Shugar using data from Lazard. Click on the chart for the story featuring the data.


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A shocking result in Tuesday's episode of Bear vs. Colt . With the score tied at two wins apiece, neither of them won! In a move that the real Indianapolis Colts would do well to study and reflect upon (we have no trouble at all imagining Peyton Manning choking in similar fashion), Colt seems to have the victory in hand before becoming careless and letting it slip away (see above). Stupid, cocky Colt.
Throughout the series Bear has won our rooting interest by playing the part of the innocent bystander, the everybear, reluctantly pushed into action by Colt, who has been, quite frankly, a dick. Just look at episode three for proof. Colt not only taunts a real bear at the zoo, but brandishes a sign which reads "Bears = Jerks." What's that? It just seems unprovoked and frankly quite unnecessary. We had no real rooting interest in the Super Bowl before now, but we'd have to say that Bear is winning us over. Of course there are four episodes remaining, so Colt just could turn this thing around and make us love him again.
Our one fear about this series: That they're just stringing us along and have no real explanation of what the mysterious numbers mean, or who "The Others" really are.
I Think It's Jim Sorgi In The Colt Costume [Deadspin]
Bear Vs. Colt


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TUCSON -- The Chicago Fire moved to 5-0-0 in the team's 2014 preseason campaign with a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids in their opening match of the Desert Diamond Cup.
Head Coach Frank Yallop admittedly approached the match with a view of giving his second team and trialists an extended period of time against quality opposition. Just like they have in previous games this preseason, the Fire showed their dominance using a beauty in the 37th minute from trialist Grant Ward and a 40th minute tap-in from Quincy Amarikwa to earn the 2-1 win.
"I thought we played very well for the first 60 minutes," Yallop told Chicago-Fire.com post-game. "This time of the preseason it's about getting fit and getting minutes. I thought the young guys really performed well and we probably could have been up 3-0 at halftime."
While only 16 Fire players dressed for the game, the Rapids split up a majority of their starters into two different 11's. After the hour mark Colorado's fresher legs began to take the game to the young Fire side as they pulled one back through Gabriel Torres in the 68th minute.
Despite conceding their first goal in five matches, Yallop was pleased with how his side responded to a veteran Rapids side in closing out the 2-1 win.
"We held strong. They only had one goal and we could have crumbled but we didn't. I think our mentality is good -- the will to win is there. We're going to make mistakes here and there but if we do, we're fighting hard to get back and rectify it. All in all I'm very happy with the squad at the moment and very pleased with the play as well."
The talk of the day centered around trialist Grant Ward's opening goal (WATCH) which looked more a cross from the right than an intentional shot. Ward, who bagged his second goal since joining the club two weeks ago in Bradenton, Fla., was adamant he meant to do it.
"It was a shot," he joked. "I saw the keeper off his line so I thought 'Why not go for it?'"
Whatever it was, the effort capped an impressive stint for the 19-year-old winger and with him heading back to North London on Thursday, raised questions of where a potential deal was to bring him on loan to the Fire in 2014.
"With Grant we're hoping we can work something out with Tottenham to loan him at some point," Yallop said. "He's one of the young kids I focused in on when I was in the UK [this offseason]. He's proven to be a very good young player and hopefully we can get that signed and done and he get join our squad."
Ward made no secret that he'd like to call Chicago a temporary home this season.
"I think it's been positive since I've been here," he said. "I've enjoyed my time, everyone's been nice to me and I'm just hoping I can get a loan and play some games."
Yallop has said he will be giving about two-and-a-half games of the remaining three preseason matches to the first 11. That run begins Saturday as the Fire take on hosts FC Tucson at 2:00pm CT, live on Chicago-Fire.com.


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Blog Archives
6 Ways to Get What You Want
"Got your mind set on a dream, You can get it, though hard it may seem now." – Jimmy Cliff
Can you really get what you want?
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How can living in the now bring us success in the future?
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Can you really get what you want?
Discover 6 ways to Get What You Want with Tam & Dr Chan on Growing Consciousness internet radio.
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Find out how your own affirmations help heal entire nations.
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Is HP's Turnaround Strategy Sustainable?
The fundamental problem facing the technology giant Hewlett-Packard is that some of the products that make up its biggest lines of business are in a long-term decline, and that new products aren't yet generating enough revenue to make up for them. That makes the multiyear restructuring and turnaround plan put in place last year by CEO Meg Whitman essentially a fight against time.
Shares of HP rose by more than 13 percent to $24.09 as of 10:15 am ET. The catalyst was yesterday's quarterly earnings report that contained better-than-expected profits amid sales that fell short of consensus forecasts by more than half a billion dollars. Analysts this morning are questioning whether or not the company can maintain the veneer of progress toward a turnaround in the quarters ahead.
"Shrinking your way to profitability buys time but doesn't equal a turnaround," was the headline on a research note from Chris Whitmore of Deutsche Bank Securities this morning. With revenue down by 10 percent year on year, and sales in major business segments declining between 1 percent (printing) and 20 percent (personal computers), HP's success this quarter and last appears to have been more about minding its cash flow and costs carefully, and less about selling more of the goods and services that make it money.
"HP is sacrificing market share, delaying research and development investment and the financial benefit of past restructuring actions to support near-term profitability which in our view is not sustainable," Whitmore wrote.
Whitman explained yesterday, both in a conference call with analysts and in an interview with AllThingsD, that HP walked away from deals to sell PCs and servers that didn't contain enough profit. It had the result of yielding some of its market share ground — HP leads the world in both PC and server sales — to Dell.
"Unsustainable," appeared to be the word of the day among analysts covering HP. It also appeared in a note from Goldman Sachs analyst Bill Shope, who reiterated his "sell" rating on HP shares. HP's exposure to "distressed end markets" will eventually overwhelm whatever actions it may take in the short- to medium term. Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets also maintained a "sell," advising shareholders that yesterday's 13 percent after-hours surge on HP's share price represented an opportunity to do just that.
Hoped-for growth from sales of new products like Project Moonshot and new networking products are good, but even that success may not be enough replace the revenue that's being lost, worries Evercore analyst Rob Cihra. "Low-power Moonshot servers, higher-end printing and software-defined networking all help but much more seems needed to move such a massive needle," he wrote in a note to clients today. "Hopes for FY13 stability otherwise just appear to flow from deep restructuring cuts."
Brian Marshall of ISI presented a similar view in a note to clients: "As global economic growth softens and PCs and printers face secular decline, it will be challenging for large technology vendors such as HP to find significant sources of new growth that can move the needle on approximately $110 billion of annual revenue."
When surveying analysts on the subject of HP, it doesn't take long to return to the notion of a breakup. HP is worth more in pieces, the argument goes, than as a unified company. That's what will happen if HP isn't able to turn the corner soon enough, argues Toni Sacconaghi of Sanford Bernstein, in a note today. While Sacconaghi has an "outperform" rating on HP shares, based on its prospects for improvement over the next six to nine months — an opinion he explained in detail on CNBC yesterday — he remains convinced that, after that, HP will either fix what's broken or break itself up.


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Weird, we always had Mother Nature pegged as a vegetarian…
It's a sad day for us here at RI. The Snorting Bull that was made famous by the movie "Bull Durham" was destroyed during a wind storm in Durham yesterday. The Bull sat atop the Blue Monster at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park for the past 13 seasons rewarding any lucky hitter with a free steak if they could hit the Bull (or free
weed salad if they hit the grass). The latest incarnation of the Snorting Bull replaced the original when the team moved to their new ballpark in 1995.
We grew up on Bull Durham and sadly we can probably recite every line from the movie and few were better than the scene in which Crash Davis tells the batter what pitch is coming and the hitter tees off and nails the Bull.
[Mechanized bull noises in background]
Crash Davis: Well, he really hit the shit outta that one, didn't he?
Ebby Calvin LaLoosh: [softly, infuriated] I held it like an egg.
Crash Davis: Yeah, and he scrambled the son of a bitch. Look at that, he hit the fucking bull! Guy gets a free steak!
Crash Davis: You having fun yet?
Ebby Calvin LaLoosh: Oh, yeah. Havin' a blast.
Crash Davis: Good.
Ebby Calvin LaLoosh: God, that sucker teed off on that like he knew I was gonna throw a fastball!
Crash Davis: He did know.
Ebby Calvin LaLoosh: How?
Crash Davis: I told him.
Bull Bears Brunt of Storm [Herald-Sun]


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mustard color plazzo suit dresses
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As Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer step back on the grass at Wimbledon, each has reason to believe he'll be hoisting the trophy in two weeks. None of the other 125 men in the field can honestly say the same.
As Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer step back on the grass at Wimbledon, each has reason to believe he'll be hoisting the trophy in two weeks.
None of the other 125 men in the field can honestly say the same.
Indeed, it's tough to imagine anyone outside that trio winning this year's championship at the All England Club, where play begins tomorrow.
"They've, you know, been pretty selfish about Grand Slam titles for a little bit," said 2003 U.S. Open champion and three-time Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick.
They sure have.
Either Nadal or Djokovic has won each of the past nine major tournaments, and they met in the last four finals to boot.
"It's up to somebody … to break that mold," said Federer, owner of a record 16 Grand Slam titles. "I hope I can do that."
Add him to the equation, and those three men have combined to win 28 of the past 29 majors, a seven-year run of dominance that began with Nadal's victory at the 2005 French Open. The lone exception was the 2009 U.S. Open, where Federer lost in the final to Juan Martin del Potro.
The top-seeded Djokovic is the defending champion at Wimbledon. And while it's the only grass-court title on his r�sum�, it's a rather significant one.
"I mean, this is what I'm born for," he said after beating Nadal in four sets in the 2011 final. "You know, I want to be a tennis champion. I want to win more Grand Slams. I will definitely not stop here."
He moved to No. 1 in the ATP rankings the next day and has remained there while compiling a 27-match Grand Slam winning streak that included titles at the U.S. Open in September and Australian Open in January, before ending with a loss to Nadal in the rain-interrupted, two-day French Open final two weeks ago.
Nadal once was thought to be a clay-court expert but has shown that he can adapt to, and excel on, other surfaces, joining Federer among the seven men who completed a career Grand Slam. At Wimbledon, the Spaniard reached the final each of the last five times he entered the tournament, winning twice and finishing as runner-up to Djokovic or Federer the other three.
And Federer? Well, all he has done is win six championships plus make one final at the All England Club in a seven-year span from 2003-09.
"I would just like to get another Wimbledon crown. It would be amazing to get No. 7," said Federer, who lost in the quarterfinals the past two years — to Tomas Berdych in 2010 and to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2011.
He has gone about 2 1/2 years without winning a Grand Slam title, his longest drought since he won his first nine years ago.
"The hunger is obviously big," Federer said.
His mastery of faster surfaces such as the grass at Wimbledon and the hard courts at the U.S. Open makes it tough to rule him out, even if he's approaching his 31st birthday on Aug. 8.
Asked to size up his prospects for adding to his Grand Slam total, Federer said, "I think the upcoming two," referring to Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, "those will be my best chances to win."
While players such as Berdych or Tsonga or Roddick or del Potro have shown they can compete with the best on their best days — and No. 4 Andy Murray, a three-time major finalist, gets plenty of home-crowd support because he represents Britain — the expectation is that Djokovic, Nadal or Federer will extend their hard-to-believe rule at Grand Slam tournaments.
"Murray is obviously the other guy. He would be the other guy that would have the next-best chance," said seven-time major champion John McEnroe, who'll be calling matches for ESPN as it takes over from NBC as the main Wimbledon TV channel in the United States.
Murray, for his part, dismisses questions about being burdened by all the attention he gets these two weeks — and all the hopes the locals have.
"Doesn't add any extra pressure. I think, in all sports, playing at home is viewed as being a huge advantage, whereas for some reason when it comes to Wimbledon, everyone thinks it's a bad thing," he said. "I haven't really found it that way. When I've played here, I've enjoyed the challenge, I've enjoyed playing in front of a passionate crowd, and it's helped me."
He also refuses to dwell on what might be considered the bad fortune of playing tennis at the same time as the top three.
For some perspective, consider what has been going on in golf: When Webb Simpson won the U.S. Open last weekend, he was the ninth consecutive first-time major champion in that sport; he also was the 15th man to win one of the past 15 majors. That sort of parity does exist in tennis, too, but only in the women's game, where six players divvied up the most recent six Grand Slam titles, capped by Maria Sharapova's triumph at the French Open.
That return to the top — and to No. 1 in the WTA rankings — makes her a popular pick to do well at Wimbledon, too. She did, after all, make her breakthrough at the grass-court tournament by winning it at age 17 in 2004.
There are also cases to be made for four-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams, who is sure to be intent on making up for a first-round loss at Roland Garros; defending champion Petra Kvitova; recent No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, a semifinalist a year ago; 2007 runner-up Marion Bartoli; former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, probably the best player without a Grand Slam title; and even Venus Williams, who might be slowed by an autoimmune disease but still knows how to get the most out of her big serve and powerful groundstrokes at a tournament she has won five times.
It's much easier to come up with a lengthy list of contenders for the women's title than it is for the men's.
"Because they are too good," Tsonga said. "That's it. They're just too good."
Associated Press writer Ciaran Fahey in Halle, Germany, and AP freelancer Barry Wood in Eastbourne, England, contributed to this report.


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Razorbacks Give Game Ball To John L. Smith After Beating Kentucky
Players award head coach John L. Smith with game ball after beating Kentucky, 49-7
It's been a year of ups and downs for the Arkansas football team (3-4, 2-2 SEC) and their head coach, John L. Smith. But one game -- and the gesture the players made after it -- held so much significance Saturday night.
After beating Kentucky, 49-7, at Razorback Stadium, the players presented Smith with the game ball, a ritual that is usually done by the head coach to honor the team's player of the game.
During Smith's coaching days at Louisville (1998-2002), the Cardinals held a fierce rivalry with Kentucky. Smith was not shy in stating his willingness to beat the Wildcats in the days leading up to the game.
Also adding to the tension off the field was a hearing in bankruptcy court the day before, where Smith faced his creditors, whom he owes more than $40 million in debts. A significant amount of that debt is owed to creditors located in the state of Kentucky.
In May, the Commonwealth of Kentucky ordered to garnish Smith's wages in order to satisfy some of that debt.
Needless to say, the Arkansas players knew winning the game meant a lot to their coach, and his positive, upbeat attitude while the Razorbacks lost four of their first five games meant a lot to them.
"I felt finally we showed our hand a little bit, what we have in us," said quarterback Tyler Wilson after the game. "We haven't done that this year, so I said, 'Here, let's give it to the guy that needs this a little bit. So I gave it to him and well-deserved. I'm glad we could go out and represent a little bit today."
When a reporter asked him what he meant by saying Smith needed the gesture, Wilson said, "I think he deserved it. I think he deserved the ball."
"I'm so very proud of our football team and our coaches," said Smith, who walked into the post-game press conference clutching the football and wearing a smile. "Our coaches deserve a pat on the back for keeping these guys coming, keeping them practicing hard, getting better and growing."
The Razorbacks are now in position to even their record against Ole Miss on October 27, and they will have two weeks to prepare with a bye week preceding it.
But first, they gave their head coach a pat on the back for helping them get there.


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Some Game Conventions
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Game Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 418
Some Game Conventions
Greetings Lords and Ladies of DAWland,
Time for yet another moderator musing. This one has to do with some average/normative conventions for the game. None of this is any sort of game "law" and is only really my "take" on what is the normal things players can expect in the game.
1. If you want to build without being attacked - stay under five (5) cities.
If you build more than that it is like running a battle flag up the flag pole and says "come and get me." And the reason is pretty obvious - the game awards - such as they are - have to do with honor points and that has to do with the number of cities you own. So if you expect to win a game award by having the most honor without fighting for it - you are likely going to be very disappointed. Other players - willing to fight for cities - will take your cities to help themselves. This is a wargame and that is just the way it is.
2. No matter what size you are - if you attack someone - expect a response.
Personally, if you even scout me - I consider that an unfriendly act and I usually will take one of your cities just on principle. But regardless of someone's response threshold... if you don't want to be attacked - don't attack someone else.
3. Alliances rely on team work - generally if you attack someone expect their whole alliance to come after you.
It has never made any sense to me to be in an alliance and then try to do 1P v 1P fights. And if you find yourself getting hammered 10 to 1 then the first question you should ask yourself is - why am I in such a crummy alliance? rather than getting mad because you are getting tag teamed. Key is - find 9 other players who want to play the game the way you do and help each other and learn how to defend each other.
4. Don't take it personally! If you get clobbered this round - put a check mark by some names and get even next round or...
I have been on all sides of this issue myself. I have been one-citied (several times in fact) and have taken top spot (again several times). Some of the craziest rounds I have ever had was when I decided to actually join with some of my tormentors from the previous round to form a new alliance. End result was a new set of friends and a very strange twist on the game dynamics.
5. Don't bother whining. Probably no one is listening and...
In the history of the game - the original top players would tag team killing whiners in the days when you could even lose your capitol. The more you whined - the more often you got to restart the game round. Not saying that would happen in our game world of today but... food for thought.
And that ends what is probably my most controversial musing to-date. As always, responses are welcomed - ranting is not
Regards - JR - Game Moderator
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While Tuesday's total solar eclipse didn't cast a shadow over North America, NASA had live streamed it from 7 to 9 p.m. ET. The total eclipse took place from 8:38 to 8:42 p.m. ET.
The moon blocked the sun in a "perfect" way for viewers to see the corona, NASA space physicist Dr. Yari Collado-Vega told NBC News.
"In the corona, that is where most of the interesting things for space weather happen: solar flares, mass ejections and temperature changes from the surface," he said.
The last total solar eclipse happened last year. This year, the sun eclipsed for anywhere from 90 seconds to four minutes, depending on where it had been viewed.
The rare and awe-inspiring unfolded over parts of Indonesia and the Indian and Pacific Oceans, weather permitting. The full eclipse was visible to several million people within its narrow path including eclipse chasers who traveled from around the world for a chance to witness it.
At least twice a year, the orbits of the moon and Earth result in the moon casting a shadow on the Earth that blocks the sun. Most eclipses are partial but when the moon is close enough to the Earth, the sun is completely eclipsed and only a faint ring of rays known as the corona is visible. The last total solar eclipse was in March 2015. The best reported viewing was on Norway's Svalbard islands near the North Pole. The previous total eclipse was in November 2012.
The total eclipse was visible within a roughly 100-150 kilometer (62-93 mile) -wide path that began in the Indian Ocean and sliced across parts of Indonesia including Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi before ending in the northern Pacific Ocean. Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, was not within the eclipse path, but the Sumatran port city of Palembang with a population of more than 1.4 million was. Cloudy skies, however, can make the much anticipated event a disappointment. And there was a high chance of clouds because Indonesia is in its wet season. People in South Asia, East Asia and the north and east of Australia may have seen a partial eclipse.
U.S. & World
The entire eclipse, which began with the first patch of darkness appearing on the edge of the sun, lasted about three hours. For the viewer, the exact duration of the total phase of the eclipse depended on their location along the path. The moments in which the sun was entirely obscured lasted between 90 seconds and 4 minutes. Palembang in Sumatra was the first major city to see the total eclipse, at about 7:20 a.m. local time. The position at which the total eclipse lasted the longest, 4 minutes and 9 seconds, was in the Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines. On land the durations were mostly between 1 and 3 minutes.
It is dangerous to look at the sun with the naked eye during a partial eclipse, the partial phases of a total eclipse and another type of eclipse called the annular eclipse, particularly using devices such as telescopes. Optometrist and eclipse chaser B. Ralph Chou, who helped develop international standards for filters, wrote that those coated with a fine layer of aluminum, chromium or silver such as the darkest welder's glass and filters made of aluminized polyester in the darkest shades are safe. The filters should be specifically designed for the binoculars and telescopes that they will be fitted to. Another safe but cumbersome and probably unsatisfying method of viewing is pinhole projection of the image onto a screen. Unsafe filters include color film, black-and-white film that contains no silver, photographic negatives with images, smoked glass and sunglasses even if multiple pairs are worn. During the spectacular moments of total eclipse it is safe to look at the sun with the naked eye.
Authorities had been promoting the eclipse as a tourism event locally and internationally since 2014. Because of their rarity, total eclipses are a magnet for scientists and eclipse chasers. Overseas tour agencies chartered ships for groups who wanted to view the eclipse at sea and many land tours, which are the best for photography, had also been organized. Oklahoma-based Spears Travel said a group led by a former NASA scientist it had booked on a special Holland America Line cruise included people from Canada, the U.S., Britain, China and Iran. An eclipse festival was planned for Palu, the capital of Sulawesi province, and 11 cities in total were promoted as places where the total eclipse could be clearly viewed.


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Hands On is a live-action demo of adorable DIYs that you can actually replicate at home. On-screen instructions guide viewers, while the DIYer also narrates and takes questions from the audience. Throughout each episode, the finished product will be featured on-screen so you always know what we're making - even if you're late to tune in! more less
Christy Doramus from CrownsbyChristy demonstrates how to make a fall wreath and special Halloween-themed flower crowns.October 25, 2017
Cassie creates customizable picture frames using popsicle sticks and a few other simple supplies.October 18, 2017
Cassie makes decorative coasters using pictures she took with the Fujifilm Instax Mini 9.October 11, 2017
LittleThings' own Gina Ward demonstrates how to make an assortment of DIY photo holders.October 4, 2017
Create the perfect DIY bullet journal with help from illustrator Laura Caseley and Fujifilm Instax North America! Hands On starts now!September 27, 2017
Beautiful, handcrafted jewelry created by artist Alicia G. Watch along as Alicia creates organically formed sculptural jewelry right now on Hands On!September 13, 2017
Marian D'Souza, from the Harlow Design Collective, demonstrates how to turn old magazines into fun paper packaging crafts.September 6, 2017
Turn old glass bottles into colorful home accessories! Watch as Sarah Pribis uses yarn to transform used glass bottles into beautiful home decorations. Hands On starts now!August 30, 2017
DIY watercolor note cards and bookmarks! Watch as artist Jennifer Refat creates whimsical watercolor paper crafts using supplies from around the house. Hands On starts now!August 23, 2017
DIY pom-pom yarn creations! Watch along as Marisa Morrison crafts cute little pom-poms that look like pineapples, confetti, and even an evil eye. Hands On starts now!August 16, 2017
Jessica Siskin of Misterkrisp shows off some designs for DIY Rice Krispies treats! Mold ordinary cereal into an elephant, a dancing emoji, or a pretzel. Learn Jessica's tasty technique right now on Hands On!August 9, 2017
Brides and grooms will love this! Create stunning, DIY wedding ring boxes with help from The Budget Savvy Bride, Jessica Bishop. Hands On starts now!August 2, 2017
Beautiful macramé plant hangers bring life into a dull space. Watch along as textile artist Cindy Bokser teaches us how to create macramé plant hangers right now, on Hands On!July 20, 2017
Handcrafted flower crowns, fresh headbands, and perfect flower arrangements! Watch along as artist Christy Doramus uses colorful flowers to create beautiful floral designs.July 12, 2017
Emily creates an adorable mini picnic using felt and sequins. It's easy and fun — the perfect craft to do with your kids!July 5, 2017
Create your very own coloring book at home! Courtney is teaching us how to make a creative coloring book out of stamps.June 28, 2017


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Sany-owned Ralls Corp has reportedly filed a document in a federal court in Washington bringing a lawsuit against a US unit of Athens-based Terna Energy, according to a one-paragraph letter from Ralls's attorney, Viet Dinh, to US district judge Amy Berman Jackson.
Berman Jackson is overseeing Ralls' lawsuit against the US government and president Obama over the president's decision last October to prevent Ralls from building four 10MW wind farms in Boardman, Oregon. The block was made on grounds of national security, with Obama citing the projects' locations as too near the naval weapons systems training facility.
Terna Energy sold the project sites to Ralls in March 2012. Each project was to comprise five Sany 2MW turbines.
The precise details of Ralls' complaint against Terna are as yet unknown as the documents were unavailable from the court's electronic records, and Dinh's letter offered no information about the case, reported Bloomberg.
The US Justice Department has asked Berman Jackson to throw out Sany's legal action against the government and president, but she is yet to respond.


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Typecasting's good: Specialize for success
During the Internet's go-go days in the late 1990s, I thought the term generalist meant "she's doing two jobs and pays herself double." Now it seems the word generalist means "good at nothing and unemployed."
In either case, generalist is the label for a career that will die. Think cars: You never hear an advertiser say, "Buy my car, it's good for everything!" Volvos are safe. BMWs are fun. Saturns are easy to buy.
Just as successfully branded products offer specific benefits, successfully branded careerists offer specific talents. You get to the top by being the best, and you can't be the best at everything.
Ezra Zuckerman, a professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management, agrees– and has the research to prove it. In his study of typecasting in Hollywood entitled Robust Identities or Nonentities, Zuckerman found that specialization leads to longer, more productive careers.
Contrary to conventional Hollywood wisdom, big bucks come most often to people who become known for a certain type of role. Zuckerman finds that typecasting, as this practice is called, is also a moneymaker in the business world, where the hiring system is set up to reward those who differentiate themselves.
"Headhunters are specialized," he says, "and they look for something they can package and sell."
Generalist is a good moniker during the first few years of your career. For example, if you're a standout college grad, you may win a place in a general-management rotational training program, such as General Electric Co. and other well-known consumer products companies offer. But the point of such training programs is to figure out what you're good at and then seek an internal role in that department.
So take a gamble. Figure out what you're best at and start making your mark. Then hope for good timing– that someone needs that particular talent when you have become expert at it.
Carly Fiorina, for example, is an outstanding marketer in the technology sector. She got to be chair and chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard by being the best– and having a little luck: The company badly needed marketing expertise when it was conducting a search for a CEO. If it had needed an engineering genius, Fiorina would not have been considered.
By the same token, if a food-products company needed a marketing-oriented CEO, Fiorina would not have been a candidate because her background is in technology. People who define themselves clearly are clearly wrong for certain positions, but super-achievers take that risk.
Many professionals hesitate to define themselves because it limits where they can go. But top players must have clear definition. Most have enough confidence in their abilities to risk specialization. Very simply, they believe that adequate opportunities will be available as they progress up the ladder.
To specialize, think discipline (marketing, sales, operations, etc) and sector (media, technology, fashion, etc.). Become known for your extremes. If you aren't extremely good at something, you won't get to the top.
Still not convinced of the benefits of typecasting? Then consider the current job market. Hundreds of applicants vie for most jobs, and many are more than qualified. This means hiring managers can demand a perfect fit– and specialists rather than generalists typically offer a perfect fit.
Figure out what your strengths are and hone them. Sure, take varied positions in the company and learn a range of skills, but make sure people know where your talents lie. People at the top need to see you as someone who is extremely good at something, and no one is extremely good at everything. So don't sell yourself that way to upper management.


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How to Become a Contract Instructor
The Department programs classes in four different sessions as outlined below:
|February - May
|May - September
|Summer Camp/Aquatics
|June - August
|September - February
Description of a Contract Instructor
Contract Instructor, his/her employees and agents shall be independent contractors and not employees or agents of the City of Dublin.
Contract Instructor and his/her employees and agents shall have no authority, express or implied, to bind the City of Dublin to any obligation whatsoever.
Notwithstanding any other City, state, or federal policy, rule, regulation, law, or ordinance to the contrary, Contract Instructor and any of its employees, agents, and subcontractors providing services shall not qualify for or become entitled to, and hereby agree to waive any and all claims to, any compensation, benefit, or any incident of employment by City, including but not limited to eligibility to enroll in the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) as an employee of City and entitlement to any contribution to be paid by City for employer contributions and/or employee contributions for CalPERS benefits.
Submitting a Contract Instructor Course Proposal Form
If you have a new, unique and fun idea for a class, please submit an online Course Proposal Form for Staff's consideration. Course Proposals can be submitted at any time and will be programmed accordingly. Before submitting your Course Proposal, please refer to Section VIII of the Contract Instructor Manual.
Once you have submitted your Proposal online, Staff will review the information submitted and contact you regarding your status.
Contract Instructor Requirements
If your proposal is accepted, you will need to meet the below requirements. For detailed information on these requirements, please refer to Section IX of the Contract Instructor Manual.
- City of Dublin Business License
- Fingerprinting (required when teaching youth under the age of 18 years)
- Form W-9 "Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification"
- Commercial General Liability Insurance
- Additional Insured Endorsement Certificate naming the City of Dublin and its elected officials, officers, employees, agents, and volunteers
- Proof of Automobile Insurance
- Workers' Compensation (required when Contract Instructor has employees), or No Employees Declaration Form
- Mandated Reporting
- Tuberculosis Testing
Contract Instructor Course Pricing
All Contract Instructors set their own prices. Federal IRS rules regarding contracting for courses prohibit the City from setting your course price. You can use the following formula to help you calculate a per hour rate:
- Select the lowest fee per hour for which you will work, multiply this fee by the number of hours you will spend in teaching the course.
- Divide this number by the minimum number of students you will teach.
- Multiply this number by 0.6 (onsite Contract Instructors) or 0.7 (offsite Contract Instructors). Contract Instructors are paid 60% of the resident fees collected for courses held in city facilities or a school facility, and 70% for a facility owned by the Contract Instructor or rented by the Contract Instructor.
All fees (except materials fees) are collected by the City and the Contract Instructor is paid at the completion of the class.


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Sermon delivered August 7, 2007
Ever been treated poorly? Co-workers don't respect you? Boss criticizes too much? Spouse doesn't appreciate you? People slander you by telling rumors and falsehoods? Discriminated against because of your faith and beliefs?
St. Paul the Apostle endured almost all of these things and worse. He was imprisoned, physically abused and punished for proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This new Faith was directly at odds with the established pagan beliefs and rituals in Roman society. It challenged the man-made idols and silly beliefs in natural phenomena as manifestations of the divine. In today's Epistle Reading from the 10th Sunday of Matthew, 1 Corinthians 4:9-16, St. Paul identifies and names his new-found low-standing in society. He says that as apostles we are last, condemned to death, a spectacle (v.9), fools, weak, dishonored (v.10), reviled, persecuted (v.12), defamed, filth of the world, off-scouring of all things (v.13). Have you been made to feel like a fool, dishonored, defamed, and persecuted? What St. Paul experienced was so severe that it caused physical consequences of hunger, thirst, being poorly clothed, beaten and homeless (v.11).
How do we respond to this negative behavior? Somewhat instinctively we often return the same. You say something bad about me, I will say something bad about you. You say something hurtful to me, I'll say something hurtful to you. We may even escalate the affair to make our point. You hit me, I will smash you. Sadly, we know this occurs between children on the playgrounds and in the hallways of our schools. Some kids never grow up and it continues in the boardrooms and cafeterias of companies and corporations. Tragically, it also happens in pews and social halls of churches. Some of what St. Paul wrote in his letter was referring to Christians in Corinth.
How should we respond to this inappropriate, abusive and corrosive behavior? St. Paul gives us simple instructions in verse 12-13. He says "being reviled, we bless; being persecuted we endure; and being defamed, we entreat."
- Reviled (loidoroumenoi) means "to be addressed or spoken of abusively". We respond by blessing (eulogoumen) which literally means "to speak with good words."
- Persecuted (diokomenoi) means "to be pursued and harassed with oppressive treatment." The Greek has a connotation of "to be chased off or driven away." We respond with endurance (anexometha) which means "to bear with patience or tolerate."
- Defamed (dusphemoumenoi) basically means "to be slandered; to have your good name, reputation attacked by uttering or publishing malicious or false accusations." We respond with entreaty (parakaloumen) which means "to make earnest request, petition or supplication." The Greek connotation means also "to pray." (It's related to the word "Paraklesis", the title of the services we celebrate often during the fifteen days preceding the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God.)
In these instructions, St. Paul is teaching what Christ Himself taught in Matthew 5:43-44 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' (Lev.19:18; Dt.23:3-6) But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who persecute you, do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you." St. Peter reinforces the teaching by saying, "Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult but with blessing because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing" (1Peter 3:9). St. Paul also says, "Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else" (1Thessalonians 5:15). And quoting Proverbs, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head" (Pr.25:21-22). Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:20-21).
In this last passage we understand that St. Paul's instructions on how to respond to revilement, persecution and defamation did not give implicit or tacit approval to this ungodly behavior. Rather, he shows how the cycle of inappropriate and disrespectful words and actions can be ended. If we return slander for slander, then the evil from the other person has overcome and infected us. Let's end the cycle of evil in our lives. Let's end it here in our parish community. Because people are free, because the devil is free to work in this world, we will never completely eliminate revilement, persecution and defamation. However, these horribly hurtful and divisive tools can be stopped at our doorstep, they can be turned away from our home. When you hear bad words about yourself or others, be patient, speak good words and remember to pray for all people. Amen.
Fr. Richard Demetrius Andrews is the pastor of St. George Greek Orthodox Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Fr. Andrews is the past president of Minnesota Eastern Orthodox Christian Clergy Association (MEOCCA), and a volunteer chaplain with the St. Paul Police Department.


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Governor Cuomo, Majority Leader Skelos and Speaker Silver Announce Agreement on Historic Teacher Evaluation Law
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Skelos, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver today announced an agreement on legislation to put the Governor's new groundbreaking teacher and principal evaluation system into law, firmly establishing New York as a national leader in school accountability.
The new evaluation system will provide clear standards and significant guidance to local school districts for implementation of teacher evaluations based on multiple measures of performance including student achievement and rigorous classroom observations. The legislation follows through on New Yorks commitment to establish a real and effective teacher evaluations as a condition of the $700 million granted through the federal Race to the Top program.
"We are writing into law a new national model for teacher evaluations that will put our students first and put New York State at the front of the class when it comes to school accountability," Governor Cuomo said. "The new statewide evaluation law sets clear standards for measuring educators based on how our students are performing in the classroom, so we can make sure our children have best possible opportunity for the future. I commend the legislative leaders for taking this extraordinary step to create permanent and real evaluations in our schools."
Senate Majority Leader Dean G. Skelos said, "This agreement on teacher evaluations will enhance accountability in school districts across New York and give our students the first-class education they deserve. I commend the Governor for working with the Legislature and labor on this important issue and look forward to doing much more to help our kids compete and succeed, so they can prepare themselves to be tomorrow's leaders in business, in education, and in each of our communities."
State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said, "The teacher evaluation law we passed two years ago helped bring $700 million in federal Race-to-the-Top funding to New Yorks schools. This will provide comprehensive standards for using multiple measures to evaluate teacher effectiveness and help struggling teachers grow and improve. I commend the Governor for his commitment to giving our students the best education system possible."
Details of the plan under the legislation are as follows:
Teacher Performance 60 points
Under the legislation, 60 percent of a teacher's evaluation will be based on rigorous and nationally recognized measures of teacher performance. The legislation requires that a majority of the teacher performance points will be based on classroom observations by an administrator or principal, and at least one observation will be unannounced. The remaining points will be based upon defined standards including observations by independent trained evaluators, peer classroom observations, student and parent feedback from evaluators, and evidence of performance through student portfolios.
Student Achievement in State and Local Assessments 40 points
Under the legislation, 40 percent of a teacher's evaluation will be based on student academic achievement, with 20 percent from state testing and 20 percent from a list of three testing options including state tests, third party assessments/tests approved by the SED and locally developed tests that will be subject to SED review and approval. Under the plan, school districts will also have the option of using state tests to measure up to 40 percent of a teacher's rating.
Rating System
The legislation significantly tightens the scoring system to ensure student achievement and teacher performance are both properly taken into account for teacher ratings. Teachers or principals that are rated ineffective in the 40 points could not receive a developing score overall.
Ineffective: 0 64
Developing: 65 74
Effective: 75 90
Highly Effective: 91 100
Point Allocation System for the Ratings
The legislation sets forth, for the first time, a standard for school districts and teacher unions to set the allocation of points for the teacher ratings. The points must be allocated in a manner that a teacher can receive one of the four ratings, and the SED Commissioner will be able to reject points that are unfairly allocated.
SED Commissioner Final Review
The legislation also, for the first time, gives the SED Commissioner the authority to approve or disapprove local evaluation plans that are deemed insufficient. This will add rigor to the process and ensure evaluation plans comply with the law.
New York City Expedited Appeals Process
The legislation also includes an expedited and streamlined appeals process for the New York City School District that becomes effective on January 17, 2013 if New York City and the UFT agree to an overall evaluation system.
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla.. (Nov. 1, 2008) - The ETSU volleyball team was swept by Jacksonville Saturday afternoon at Swisher Gym in Jacksonville, Fla., 3-0 (15-25,18-25, 19-25).
"Jacksonville is a strong team with a great block," said head coach Lindsey Devine. "When we followed our game plan we did well. We are going to just have to work hard so that we can make the conference tournament, and learn from these matches."
The Bucs (8-17, 5-11 A-Sun) were led offensively by Erin Ryan (Davie, Fla.) as she tallied nine kills in the match. Desiree Dyck (Meadow Lake Saskatchewan) had seven kills for ETSU, while junior Amanda Youell (Middleburg, Fla.) quarterbacked the Buccaneer offense collecting 22 assists, eight digs and four blocks.
In the first set, the Dolphins jumped out to a 10-3 lead after a six-point run. The Bucs cut the Jacksonville lead to 10-8, but the Dolphin attack was too much as they took the set 25-15. Dyck led the Bucs in the set with four kills.
Jacksonville carried its momentum into the second set as the Dolphins went on a 6-1 run to go in front 13-8. ETSU again cut the lead to two points, 15-13, but Jacksonville got five straight points to increase its lead to 20-13. The Dolphins went on to win the set 25-18 after a couple Aidan Yeager kills, and took a 2-0 lead into the break.
The Bucs got behind quickly in the third set after a couple of errors, 8-2. ETSU cut the lead to 13-10, but the Dolphins continued to increase their lead going up 20-12 after a four-point run. Jacksonville put the game away on a couple big blocks to make the final 25-19.
The Bucs are back in action on Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. as they host Radford in Brooks Gym. Please visit www.ETSUBucs.com for more information on ETSU volleyball and all other Buccaneer athletic news.


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Here's Ishbel, a lovely shawl pattern by Ysolda Teague. I made the small version, and managed to get it done during two train rides across Pennsylvania, plus another hour or two. It was a quicker knit than I thought it'd be!
I loved using the Swans Island fingering for this – it's a well-behaved yet soft yarn. This is the Winterberry color, with just the right amount of tone-on-tone variation.
I bought the yarn at Ranch Dog Knitting a while ago
The Ishbel pattern can be found individually or in Ysolda's collection Whimsical Little Knits 1


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Kwame Harris charged with felony abuse
Former 49ers and Raiders tackle Kwame Harris faces charges that he assaulted his boyfriend at a Menlo Park restaurant after an argument involving soy sauce and underpants, San Mateo County prosecutors said Monday.
Harris, 30, became angry with Dimitri Geier, 36, in August at Su Hong restaurant on Menlo Avenue, according to court documents.
The ex-football player got incensed when Geier tried to put soy sauce on Harris' rice, said Al Serrato, a San Mateo County prosecutor.
"Basically, they're having dinner together and they get into a verbal dispute and it gets violent from there," Serrato said. "One of them had poured soy sauce onto the rice and the verbal dispute had escalated."
Serrato said the men were romantically involved and previously had lived together. Geier, a resident of Los Angeles, was visiting Harris at the time of the altercation, said Craig Charles, Geier's attorney.
"They'd broken up and gotten back together a few times," Charles said. "It was not a formal relationship."
During the restaurant argument, Harris accused Geier of stealing his underwear, Serrato said. Harris then tried to pull down Geier's pants, the prosecutor said.
"I guess he was trying to prove that he was wearing his underwear," Serrato said.
Harris, 6-foot-7 and 240 pounds, then pinned Geier (6-1, 220 pounds) against a plate-glass window and hit him several times in the face and head, Serrato said.
Doctors at O'Connor Hospital in San Jose determined that Geier had sustained complex compound facial fractures that required surgery and the insertion of a metal plate, Serrato said.
Harris later was charged with felony domestic abuse with great bodily injury and assault with great bodily injury, prosecutors said. Harris pleaded not guilty in the fall and made a pretrial appearance Monday in San Mateo County Superior Court. He is scheduled to go to trial in April.
Defense attorneys did not return messages seeking comment.
Geier sued Harris in October in San Mateo County seeking unspecified damages. Through an attorney, Harris has denied all the suit's claims.
Harris went to Stanford and was the 49ers' first pick in the 2003 draft. He played five seasons for the team before signing with the Raiders as a free agent.
He played the 2008 season with Oakland, then was released. He has been out of football since then.
Will Kane is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Twitter: @WillKane


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Category: Frugal Living
Drinking Water – What Is Your Preferred Source
What is your preferred source of drinking water? Is it tap water? Do you like the taste of tap water? If you answered yes to both questions, then read this post for your pure amusement 🙂
I have lived in a few different states and traveled to many in the US – honestly, I have not liked the taste of tap water.
I don't know if it is sheer misfortune – everywhere I have lived, the tap water tasted like I was drinking water from a swimming pool.
There is a plant called "Lucky Bamboo". It is a pretty tough plant. If you keep it in tap water, its leaves will turn yellow and often times slowly die because of the chlorine content in the tap water.
It looks like the human body can tolerate high levels of chlorine in drinking water than Lucky Bamboo!
I have always been on a quest to find good drinking water at a reasonable price to quench my thirst. Over the course of time, I have tried different alternatives and have formed some opinions.
Now, I am about to entertain you with my journey with drinking water…
Tap Water
In 1974, the US congress enacted the Safe Water Drinking Act (SWDA) and authorized Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set standards for public water systems (not private wells). States and public water providers take steps to comply to the standards set up by EPA.
If you live in the US, and your tap water is coming from a public water provider, then it is supposed to be potable. Please check your county's or water providers water quality report periodically.
Cost : FREE. You do pay for your water. However, the amount of water you drink would be in the noise, when you look at the overall water usage for your home. Hence, I classified it as free.
Taste: You be the judge 🙂
Sorry, I have never been a fan of this option.
Water Cooler and Dispenser
In my former home, we used to have a bottom loading water cooler / dispenser. The advantage of having a bottom loading water dispenser is that you don't need to lift, flip & mount a 5 gallon water bottle on a standard water dispenser.
In this case you would need to purchase two to four 5-gallon water bottles based on your needs at home.
Another advantage is that most of these water dispensers have three temperature settings – piping hot, cold, and room temperature. This is a good alternative if you are constantly in the need for hot water through the day. You will love it if you drink hot tea.
The initial cost of water dispenser falls in the range of ~$100 to ~$350. On the cheaper ones, the 5-gallon water can is mounted vertically upside down and is visible. The bottom loading ones look nicer and are easier to use and cost ~$200 and upwards.
The 5-gallon water bottles are available for ~$7 a piece at Walmart. To keep it cost effective, you buy empty bottles and you fill it at drinking water refill stations. Big grocery chains (Kroger, Walmart) may have water refill stations or you could look up if you have a glacier water refill station near you.
Cost: ~$1 per 5 gallons of water refills. If you consume two 5-gallon water bottles a week, you are looking at an annual cost of ~$104.
Taste: We liked the taste of glacier water.
This alternative would not work for you if you don't like hauling 5-gallon bottles of water. I didn't mind doing it. We had it for several years.
If you like this alternative, you could consider Avlon or Whirlpool bottom loading water cooler / dispenser.
When we moved from Texas to New Jersey, our water dispense got damaged in transit and we didn't buy a new one given we were living in a much smaller home in NJ and every square foot mattered.
Bottled Drinking Water
This is pretty straight forward. You pick the bottled water of your choice. What I hate is the fact that I am polluting planet earth with plastic waste.
I confess, I am guilty here. We were buying bottled water for the past three years, and I was so sick of it and we finally moved on to options that are eco-friendly.
Cost: $5 – $10 per week. This is based on your consumption. Annual cost is about $260 – $520.
Taste: Your choice! It better taste good.
We were spending about $300 a year. It was expensive! Even worse, it hurts planet earth.
Refrigerator Drinking Water
Your home refrigerator takes in tap water and filters it. The cost of water is the cost of the water filter in your home refrigerator.
Typically, you would need to replace your refrigerator's water filter every six months. In essence, the cost of drinking water, is the cost of two water filter replacements.
Most modern refrigerators notify you when the filter needs to be replaced.
Cost: $15-50 per filter. Annual cost is about ~$30 – $100.
Taste: We like it.
We got lucky. My refrigerator's filter costs ~$15. We switched over to refrigerator water.
Drinking Water Filter
Nothing like a simple water filter. I purchased a Brita Water Pitcher long time ago. We started using it again so that we have water available at room temperature. The filter can be used for up to 40 gallons of water.
The 10 cup Brita water filter costs about $20. A pack of three Brita water filter replacement costs about $13.34 (price from Amazon). I change the water filter every three months. To keep the math simple, I am going to say filter replacement cost is $5.
You get 40 gallons of drinking water at $5, that equates to 12.5 cents per gallon – that is a good deal!
Cost: $5 per 40 gallons of water. If you replace the filter every 3 months, annual cost is ~$20. If you replace the filter every two months, annual cost is ~$30.
Taste: We like it.
Our drinking water cost is the cost of Brita water filter replacements and refrigerator water filter replacements that adds up to a total of $50 per year.
We cut down our drinking water bill from $300 per year to $50 per year.
That is a significant amount of cost savings.
I limited this post to simple non-intrusive sources of drinking water. You could install a reverse osmosis water filter system at home, but that would require some plumbing work.
How much do you spend on drinking water? Which alternative do you use? Now you got me curious!


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For nearly six years Roots in Alpharetta has brought Alpharetta and the surrounding community compelling content on news, politics, technology, restaurants and general stuff. At least I hope it's been compelling content. That's always been the goal. It's taken a great deal of time to research and write the articles you find here each week. It's been well worth the effort, a very rewarding experience.
Unfortunately I need to cut back on my blogging schedule and frequency. Why? I simply don't have as much time to devote to writing. My work schedule is changing and I'm spending more time working from home. This means my time in Alpharetta is less than it used to be. I'm not walking the beat like I used to.
Additionally there are concerns in my Forsyth County community that are extremely pressing. There's a role for me to fill here, I'm just trying to figure out exactly what that is.
This doesn't mean goodbye Roots, just a little less. It means that you might not always find a fresh article when you point your browser here on Friday mornings. I hope my readers understand because I value your feedback and contributions to the discussion. You're the best and you've made this a lot of fun.


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Is Cheap Escorts Expensive?
Cheap escorts are something that you may be considering and that you should make a point of checking out before making your decision. There are numerous places to find these types of women for hire on the Internet, so if you don't want to visit one specific country to find them, you can do so from the comfort of your own home.
However, it is important to be wary about the physical appearance of the person that you plan to hire. Obviously, an escort who has dark hair and is wearing a revealing outfit would not be something that you would want to spend any time with. Also, the kind of physical appearance that you may be interested in is something that can be viewed by others.
The problem that the world's escorts face is that they may not be aware of this fact. There are many websites that are all designed to provide women with an opportunity to sell their services for a price. Although the websites themselves are going to charge a fee, the fact that they are not running a legitimate business will give the women even more incentive to get you to sign up.
When it comes to this, there is a general assumption that all escorts are selling sex. However, the average woman will only have the highest percentage of that on her earnings.
In other words, there is a specific amount of money that these ladies will try to charge you before you sign up with them. The very same women, however, will then try to put pressure on you to make your payment prior to having sex with them.
All of the services that they are providing are also very similar in all of the similar ones, and they will ask for the same exact fees before they will agree to everything that they have asked for. The only difference is that these women have more realistic expectations about what they expect.
It is important to remember that most of the men that visit the websites that have the cheapest escorts in the world will be used to these kinds of services that are provided. The services will be interesting to the men and they will continue to go to these websites because they will think that they are getting a great deal.
If you decide to take advantage of the general knowledge that the general public has about the Internet, you will find that the people who claim to be the best cheap escorts will often not be able to provide any real information about them. These people may tell you that they are great, but they will not be able to provide any sort of testimonial about how good they are.
They will then have you believe that you are looking at a website that is offering nothing more than low prices for a certain service. This is a tactic that will really only be successful if you do not do your research and find out the truth about the woman that you are about to hire.
The next thing that you can do to avoid meeting the people that you think will be the cheapest escorts in the world is to stay away from the information that you have from the newspaper. There are many people who will use this as their major source of information about escorts.
There are also people who will be using this kind of publication as a big white lie. Therefore, it is important to know who you are going to meet and what you are going to pay for before signing up with any service.
Cheap escorts are easy to find on the Internet. If you want to find them, then you should be able to find a site that caters to those seeking escorts on a budget.


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Linux Mint 9 is done. An official announcement is still pending; however, all the ISOs are now available for download.
Mint is an operating system designed to be completely functional out of the box. Linux Mint 9, which is based on Ubuntu 10.04, is in some ways, a refined version of an already excellent distro. Check out the videos embedded below to see Isadora in action.
via NevermoarTV
Linux Mint boasts of a host of new and improved features including a new software manager, backup tool, tweaked interface, improved update manager and Mint4Win.
CD as well as DVD images for Linux Mint 9 are available. The DVD version is just about 100 MB larger than the CD version and simply includes additional wallpapers and packages such as Sun Java, Samba and ttf-DejaVu, which could not fit into the CD.


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Systems Engineer Lead, Insurance Company
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Underneath all those computers, there was a desk hiding.
And that's the way things look now, and how I plan for them to look in the week to come. That's the bet — one week at 100Mhz, with nothing graphical, nothing post-1996 technologywise (unless you count the wireless card, which is considered primitive by just about everyone but me). Let the games begin.
The Inspiron is in the closet, along with the Thinkpad, the Sotec and even the OLPC. What you see there is what I've got. No USB. No SD card access. No CDROM. One hundred megahertz of pure enjoyment, with nothing to interfere with the important things of a desktop experience.
Of course, there are a few stipulations, which I will mention up front so you don't think I'm cheating if they come into play later.
First, of course, you can't be sure if I've already dragged out the other machines and put them back in a line, like they usually are (the family usually calls this desk "command central"). So you'll just have to take my word for it.
I mentioned that the Inspiron is in the closet and that's true, but I've been using that since the start as a surrogate whenever software needs to be built for this machine. I'm not so much a fool as to try and build software on a Pentium Classic.
In fact, I am doing almost nothing in the way of system maintenance at this point. I made the mistake of trying to use localedef earlier tonight because I realized I forgot to set my locales when I built this system. But after 10 minutes, I decided I could live without them for a little while longer. 😯
Furthermore, this system still doesn't have sound, and I don't think I'll be adding it any time soon. Sound is another little quirk that takes time to solve, and in the end, I usually have a second machine playing music or movies anyway. So if the Thinkpad comes back out so I can watch one of my DVD rips or play a little ogg goodness, that's normal. Otherwise, that's a radio in the background in the picture.
You do remember what a radio is, don't you? 🙄
The beat-up Thinkpad is still running as an rtorrent/fttps client and ports host for the rest of the house. True, nothing else is running that would need those ports or torrent access, but it's there because it's always there.
And the Sotec machine is in the closet, where it will probably be for a few more days until I get around to testing proc's i586 repository for Arch. I've been wanting to do that for weeks now, but I've been so overloaded with other stuff that … you know.
Lastly, this machine is networked into the battered Thinkpad as a matter of course. So transferring files or backing up configurations is done by moving them across the wireless and onto the torrent client. From there, they can be transferred wherever. If ever.
Tomorrow I'll try to give an honest appraisal of how things go with this machine. I imagine before the week is over I'll have a lot of things that need discussed, both good and bad. …


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Podcast: Play in new window | Download
This week's episode is a first for me – a solo Blendover! On this edition, I look into the case of Victor White III, who despite his hands being cuffed behind his back in the backseat of a cop car, committed suicide via gunshot to the chest, according to police and the coroner. Later, I discuss Henry Rollins' columns on suicide, and the reactions from readers…
Topics Discussed:
- Shout-Outs and Other Remarks
- Bad Cop No Donut
- Gene Simmons and Henry Rollins on Depression and Suicide
- Econoline Crush
- WTF: ALS Ice Bucket Challenge creator DROWNS
BlendoveR is the "trendover" podcast, bringing you the news that the news isn't covering. Presented by Greg Davies, we focus on topics that are not trending across the web and in the mainstream media, and have a knack accurate predictions of coming events, trends, and media coverage.
Shout-Outs and Other Remarks
The Doctor Who TARDISblend 72: Deep Breath
Bad Cop No Donut
Autopsy contradicts the police's account of Victor White III's shooting in the back of a cop car
Autopsy of 22 year old man that was handcuffed and shot in the chest in the back of a cop car is ruled a suicide
Coroner rules Victor White death suicide
Dad of Slain Unarmed Missouri Teen Michael Brown: 'We Need Justice for Our Son'
Ferguson Police Chief: Officer Didn't Stop Michael Brown as Robbery Suspect
Ferguson police tear gas PEACEFUL protestors
How did Victor White III die in the backseat of a cop car?
I was just talking with a friend about the tyrannical conduct by law enforcement in Ferguson, Missouri…
Pleading suspect with asthma dies in police custody: "You can talk, so you can breathe."
RAW: Ferguson police fire tear gas at defiant protesters
Texas cops mistakenly pull over, arrest woman with 4 small children inside car
You all should be pleased that heroic police officials are protecting the public from such a dangerous individual.
Gene Simmons and Henry Rollins on Depression and Suicide
Gene Simmons deletes his Twitter account, as another radio station begins forming the digital mob with torches and pitchforks by encouraging the hashtag #banGene
Gene Simmons of KISS tells depressed people to 'kill themselves': The backlash has reached all the way to Australia, with Triple M today announcing they would remove all KISS songs from their playlists nationwide.
HENRY ROLLINS Apologizes For Comments About ROBIN WILLIAMS' Suicide
Henry Rollins Bashes the Suicidal, Shames Robin Williams
Henry Rollins: More Thoughts on Suicide
MMM confusion over racist jibe
Nikki Sixx does not condone 'Anti-Gene Simmons Bashathon'
Econoline Crush
Econoline Crush – Official Site
WTF: ALS Ice Bucket Challenge creator DROWNS
ALS ice bucket challenge co-founder Corey Griffin, 27, drowns
Music Featured:
- "You Don't Know What It's Like" by Econoline Crush from the album Surefire